Crashes on Merritt, I-95 in Westport result in injuries

WESTPORT -- The Westport Fire Department had a busy weekend, responding to four accidents along Interstate 95 and the Merritt Parkway that resulted in injuries and lane closures.

At 2:55 p.m. Saturday, the department responded to a multi-vehicle accident with injuries between exits 18 and 19 of I-95 northbound. A crash involving two passenger vehicles took out about 30 feet of guardrail, stopping the vehicles from falling down a steep embankment, the department reported.

One accident victim was taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center in Bridgeport, and state police closed the right lane for about a half hour.

Shortly after 8 p.m. that evening, the department was responding to a three-car accident with injuries on the Merritt Parkway southbound. State police shut down the left lanes in both directions while ambulance crews treated six victims, who were then hospitalized.

During that time, a rollover accident occurred north of the first accident in the southbound lane. Westport and Fairfield firefighters, who were on the scene for the first accident, responded with hydraulic rescue tools to remove three trapped occupants from the vehicle on long spine boards. The victims were hospitalized.

On Sunday at 4:54 a.m., the Westport Fire Department responded to a rollover on Interstate 95 northbound between exits 18 and 19. The driver, a woman from West Haven, had removed herself from her 2005 Acura, but two other occupants were trapped inside. One was removed through the rear passenger door, and the other was removed after firefighters lifted the car with inflatable air bags.

One of the victims was hospitalized, and state police shut down the right lane for about an hour and a half, the department reported.

Staff writer Jared Newman can be reached at (203) 354-1045 or jnewman@thehour.com